Review: The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer

Pearlie lives live much like any other housewife in Northern California in the early 1950s. She dutifully works to keep the house clean, keeps her polio striken son as healthy and vibrant as possible and her husband happy and calm (so as not to aggrevate his heart condition. All seems well, or at least liveable (like her husband’s affair) until a knock at the door turns Pearlie’s world upside down.

A white man’s startling revelation about his relationship with Pearlie’s husband during their wartime stay in the hospital should tear her world apart; instead the revelation opens doors she never knew existed.

Pearlie and the man strike up an unlikely friendship and, ultimately, he delivers stunning plans for her husband, plans that will have huge ramifications for Pearlie and her son. Now Pearlie must scramble to put a price on love, a figure high enough to secure a happy future for herself and her son.

Greer’s language turns what might be an interesting story into a compelling, must-read book. Hailed by authors and critics alike, The Story of a Marriage, will stick with the reader for a long time.